Do you occasionally consider the friends you have had over your lifetime, and realize with a start that your aging has reduced their number? I certainly have, and lately reflect often on the thought that presently, I have virtually none. Two nephews, relatives but not friends by definition, the rest of my relatives are all dead. I have a wife, best friend now, we don't even know our neighbors, but then, they are not real closely located to us. So, my friends now, as things stand, are all "internet friends", entities which did not exist at all, during my formative years growing up, friends unlike those school pals and neighbors' kids, faceless friends often having fictitious names. I suppose I sound like a lonely old man. Neither of us is particularly gregarious, to the extent that "Senior Centers" having get-togethers, or clubs or such, are not attractive to us. We are "turned off" by seeing most everywhere we go in this gambling-resort oriented and heavily retiree inhabited place, old folks dressed foolishly to look like teen-agers, talking and acting often giddily, having often repulsive slogans emblazoned on their caps and shirts. Frank
I am pretty much the same, @Frank Sanoica. I spent a lot of time dealing with people during my working years, and don't much care about having friends per se. My wife and I have a couple that we occasionally spend time with. Our children grew up together, and we have know them since 1992, but there are no regular get-togethers. My only real social contact is at church, but I don't associate with them outside that environment. I haven't been used by the hospice folks recently, and maybe that is a thing of the past. That was my only other social outlet after retiring. My wife, however, is very social, and she was very shy when we met many years ago, so she is the social outlet for us, and we do have some contact with our children and grandchildren, of course.
That is pretty much how we are as well, except that since I have Facebook, I am still in contact with old friends from childhood and school. I would really MISS facebook if I didn’t have it, because that is how I stay in contact with almost everyone (old friends or new ones) nowadays. We seldom have anyone come to visit us, and the two that do would be my daughter, Robin, and our Iranian friend (who Bobby manages the rentals for), Hosa. We only have two places to sit in the whole house, Bobby’s chair, and mine. Bobby does have his computer chair, so when we have company, we have a place for one more person to sit, but that is it. Not even a kitchen table. Our social life would be going to the fitness center to work out and swim, and we each have people that we see most days and have casual conversations with. I consider my forum friends as real as the ones I grew up with, or ones that I have met more recently in other ways, like the ones from the fitness center. It doesn’t really matter to me that I only know them through an avatar, and not a real face and person, we have good conversations with each other the same as we would if we actually were chatting together.
I'm amazed by this thread, thought I was the only one to feel this way I'm disappointed by people I get to know - I just don't fit in with them and I can't be what I am not Even if I were on my own, I know I would be the same as I am now
Thank you @Frank Sanoica for bringing this up. I have 2BFF known over 40 years. Both are 1-2years older than me. Only one of them do I see regular- but we talk almost everyday.Use to bother me that I found no reason to keep the other so called friends around, no anymore. Both were work friends..one was even my boss at one time. It is not how many but the quality of your freindship that is important. I to consider all my cyber buddies on here as my - distance freinds. We have shared good and bad issues amoung us, had dis agreement at times, but we all flock right back here to be with each other. That is a friendship also. You all are important to someone on here even if you think not. Thanks to you all I am never alone..your just a button and a click away
I don't have friends whose houses I go to, or who I go out to dinner with or anything. A lot of what we think of as friendship, I think, are acquaintances whose company we enjoy, but who we would never have known if not for a common thread, such as school, a job, church or other organization, neighborhood, political cause, and so on. Once we leave school, get another job, cease our association with the organization, move, or the political campaign is over, we might be in touch from time to time, but the close friendship has ended. Facebook lets me keep in touch with people I considered to be my friends when I lived in other places, but it's not like I once imagined friendship to be.
I am thankful that so far, I still have a close-knit group of friends that have been in my life for many years. I see three of them who live locally at least once a month for lunch or shopping; another lives 300 miles away so we visit each other semi-annually. Two more close friends live across the country but I "talk" to them almost every day via email. My husband and I are home bodies and prefer to keep mostly to ourselves, so "social activities" are not of much interest to us. We have an RV and like to take several trips a year, but other than that we just like being home. People often ask me, "Aren't you bored?? What do you do all day?" My answer is no, I am NOT bored, and I do whatever I please. I quit making excuses for my life a long time ago.
I don't have any buddies, mainly because my wife does everything that I like doing. Fishing, shooting and on and on. My wife has two girlfriends who have turned into plain acquaintances now. Both have some serious health problems. Wife hasn't seen the one since 2001 and will no longer see the other when we leave Florida. We have some rules for making friends, like no smoking or swearing.
@Lulu Moppet Not a problem, as they now say. One of the more offensive cap-inscribed slogans, worn by a Veteran, stated "The Problem is Muslim". Believe it or not! Next would be, mainly younger folks of both sexes, displaying what they must perceive to be cute: "F" this, ""The F you say!", etc. "Meat is Murder" is good, as well as "Friends don't Let Friends Eat Meat". I'll be damned before I let any "friend" tell me what I can or cannot eat! Save your "orders" for some other "friend". Frank
I had a friend I had bonded with in high school, around 1951, and remained friends over the years until about 2 years ago, when he became reclusive and wouldn't even write, but called only on my birthday every year. I had offered to buy him a computer so we could keep in touch via Email but he didn't want to do that. He became so reclusive that he was like a hermit living in a cave, showing no interest in anything, so I stopped writing and calling him 2 years ago. Some of you Forum people are real spark plugs in my life and I'm really thankful for the Internet, so who needs old slugs like former lifetime buddy George King! Hal